Musings, ponderings and various observations on the intersection of BJJ/Martial arts training and the living of life. I have no inclination toward either political correctness or correct spelling. This blog, such as it is, remains fundamentally an unfiltered gush of thought ... both raw and unpolished.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

ACTION!

When I think martial arts - I think ACTION!The way of the martial artist - is the way of action. The DOING is the most important thing about martial arts training. Whether you train in Tai Chi, or whether you are a hard-core MMA Fighter, it's the DOING that counts.In life off the mat, the DOING, the ACTION is also a critical ingredient to success. I have known many people, and I include myself among them, who at one time or another, knew enough to 'make a move', or to 'do something' but could simply not go the next vital step - and pull the trigger."Hey, I could have written that book' - I've actually heard this. I was polite enough to keep my thoughts to myself - but those thoughts were, 'Perhaps your right, you could have done it. But you DIDN'T!' There's knowing, and then there's PULLING THE TRIGGER. Actually doing it. Taking action. Thoughts don't create much - in and of themselves. We can wish and hope and think all we want - and the universe will ignore us. It's only when we take action that things start to happen.As I am fond of saying - you can stick the motivational poster up on the wall - and 'put the thought out there in the universe' - you can even light up some incense - and put on some nice music - but nothing will happen. Well, not entirely true - something will manifest - a family of spiders will eventually take up residence behind the poster. The poster is there for one reason only - to inspire you into taking action. Take action today - make things happen.Best regards,JBW

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1 Comments

Through my studies and work I have to deal with lack of motivation every day, and I can say that this sort of situation is often due to the theory of Drive vs. Motivation:

Motivation is a though process, a decision making process where you weight up all of the costs and all of the benefits of a decision. After you have taken many of them into account, a lot of the time unconsciously, and you have decided that action is a good decision overall, then you can say that you are motivated. Almost every decision you make, every day, has a cost-benefit analysis behind it whether you realise it or not.

Drive is the emotional counterpart. Drive is when you feel excited, eager, confident, scared, enthusiastic, etc. The reality is, that you will barely ever have the drive for many tasks before you go into action, even if you are motivated for it. Drive is not a reliable cue to action (e.g. if you're tired after a long days work, the last thing that you feel like is training, but not everyone realises that once they start training they will feel fine).

Its all about how a particular person can overcome that situation where they are motivated, but waiting for the drive (e.g. some sort of affirmation? help from a friend?).